My name is Layla Pujol, my family and friends call me Laylita. I was born in Vilcabamba, Ecuador and currently live in Luxembourg. I spent several years in the US, both in Austin and in Seattle, and our family recently moved to Europe. My recipes are inspired mainly by traditional Ecuadorian dishes that I grew up eating in Ecuador. However, my love of food – and therefore the recipes posted here – go beyond Ecuador and include anything from Latin America, my mom’s spicy New Mexican cooking, my grandmother’s homemade Southwestern dishes and Texas style BBQ, my husband’s (and his family’s) delicious French food, new dishes introduced by my amazing group of international friends, and of course the great variety of seafood, vegetables and fruits available in the Pacific Northwest.
I am currently working on my first cookbook, which will focus on delicious Ecuadorian recipes (adapted to my style, of course!).
The longer version of my story
My approach to cooking and general instructions for using this site
Additional contact information
Photo and content use
Recipe development, product reviews, disclosure, and advertising
Privacy policy
If you have any questions or comments you can leave them in the comment section, or you can email me directly layla at laylita dot com
Just wanted to let you know ‘me encantan tus recetas!’
I’m from the Netherlands, my husband is an ecuadorian.
Thanks to you lovely website my children (and husband :-) now eat Ecuadorian food
at home.
saludos
Jet
Haarlem, The Netherlands
no se si escribir en Ingles o en Espaniol, de todas maneras queria agradecerle por sus exelentes recetas, yo tambien soy del Ecuador de la sierra, i creci con muchas de sus recetas, felicitaciones por su Website i me siento Orgullosa de ser Ecuatoriana, de paso i por medio de mi trabajo tengo muchas amistades Francesas me encanta la cultura de ellos su Pais i por supuesto su comida, preparo algunas recetas clasicas de pollo i de res que me quedan muy ricas.
i vivo en Texas en el area de Dallas i Fort Worth no hay ningun restaurante de comida Ecuatoriana, encontramos un Restaurante Peruano i tiene razon es algo parecido a la comida Ecuatoriana
gracias en nombre de todos los Ecuatorianos que seguimos su Blog
Maria E Luzuriaga
Laylita, I love your blog, it’s so friendly, colorful, useful…!!!
I am telling all my friends from Ecuador about this great website.
S
Hi, I from Ecuador and I find your site very interesting because I found recipes that you don’t find either in the Ecuadorian cuisine, the only recipe that I’ll like to share with you is la cazuela de mariscos, or cazuela de camaron, or pescado. Probably you tasted before that is maid with banana plaintain, muy boyfriend love it! I do enjoy all the dishes that you had here in your site…I do love cook also…well nobody complain yet! =)
take care from VA. Marci
Hi Layla,
I am German and my husband is Ecuadorian, together we live in the US. Can’t wait to surprise him with some of these traditional Ecuadorian meals.
Thank you for all those wonderful recipes.
Pat
Hi Laylita,
My dad is Ecuadorian and he make several Ecuadorian dishes which we love! I visited Ecuador in 2008 and it was an amazing cultural and food experience. I was wondering if you’ve ever found a Ecuadorian restaurant in the Pacific NW or elsewhere in the States?
Hi Elizabeth – There’s a good Peruvian restaurant in Portland, it’s called Andina, and Peruvian food is very similar to Ecuadorian food. When I lived in Austin there was a good Colombian restaurant that had some dishes similar to Ecuadorian ones (I don’t remember the name of the restaurant). I’ve heard that cities with larger Ecuadorian population have some (NYC, LA, Miami), but haven’t been to any.
Thanks, Laylita. I live right in the suburbs of Portland and have heard of Andina. I’ll need to try them out soon!
Saludos desde Portland y muchisimas gracias por compartir tus maravillosas recetas.
Desde hace algun tiempo he tratado de encontrar por internet, la receta de unos tamales dulces que no se como se llaman. Estos tamales los comprabamos cuando mi familia y yo ibamos a Sangolqui, un pueblito cercano a Quito, durante los dias de feria. Estos tamales son de harina de maiz, tienen relleno de pollo, y creo que la masa es endulzada con raspadura. Son riquisimos pero no tengo idea de como hacerlos, ojala tu me pudieras ayudar! Otra pregunta, como se prepara la salsa de aji con mani? Muchisimas gracias por la ayuda que me puedas brindar!
Hola Amparo – Me parece que los tamales que buscas se llaman hayacas. Pondre la receta dentro de poco. Mientras tanto aqui esta la receta de la salsa de mani: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2008/04/07/salsa-de-mani-or-peanut-sauce/
No habia comido un encebollado desde que llegue a estados unidos en el 93. Segui tu reseta y sabrozo riquicimo. Just In case, I used to go visit my grandparents in San Pedro de Vilcabamba.
El comi y bebe les encanto a mi esposa e hijas. Ellas son bien melindrosas.
Gracias por el website.
I found your blog by typing in “encebollado” in Google and I’m OBSESSED!!
I spent a couple months in Ecuador with my boyfriend, who is a chef, so I ate really well. But we have since broken up and I am back in the states, so I’m so excited that I can make Ecuadorian food myself now, with the help of your recipes. I’ve made ceviche and chifles before, both of which I LOVE, but I’m really excited to try your octopus and langostino ceviches.
Thank you so much for this wonderful blog. I can’t wait to start cooking and introducing my family to this wonderful food. And your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Can’t wait to see what you post next!
I am currently living in Ecuador with my boyfriend. I moved here from Oregon to teach business English to executives, while he is helping promote his brother’s new Prosthetic/Orthotic distributing business here. I can’t believe you’re from Vilcabamba, what a beautiful place!!! I was wondering if you could post a recipe for quesadillas (you know, those sweet, crumbly pastries…. not the cheese and tortilla kind). I’ve been scouring the internet and asking all my Ecuadorian friends for a recipe, to no avail. I am an avid reader of your blog (especially now that i’m living down here) and just tonight I made your Empanadas Viento tonight, with great success!! I appreciate you!